RALEIGH, N.C. – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the defending Eastern Conference champion Carolina Hurricanes, announced today that the team has recalled Craig MacDonald from Lowell of the American Hockey League. The team also reassigned defenseman Tomas Malec to Lowell, the Hurricanes’ top minor-league affiliate.

MacDonald (6’ 1”, 195 lbs.) played in nine games with Carolina earlier this season, registering one assist and six penalty minutes. He has 27 points (7g, 20a) in 27 games with Lowell this season to rank third among Lock Monsters scorers. The Hurricanes selected MacDonald in the third round, 88th overall, in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft and, in 32 career NHL regular-season games, he has three points (1g, 2a) and six penalty minutes. The 25-year-old, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, native played in four games during the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs for Carolina.

Malec, 20, returns to Lowell following his first NHL recall. The Hurricanes recalled Malec (6’ 2”, 193 lbs.) on Dec. 11, and the Skalica, Slovakia, native recorded two assists, 18 penalty minutes and 13:00 average time on ice in 13 games with Carolina. In 26 games with Lowell prior to his recall, Malec had four assists and 38 penalty minutes and was named to the PlanetUSA All-Star team for the AHL All-Star Classic, Feb. 3 in Portland, Maine.

Carolina acquired Malec from Florida along with Bret Hedican and Kevyn Adams on Jan. 16, 2002. The Panthers selected Malec in the third round, 64th overall, of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

The Hurricanes travel to Washington, D.C. today for Wednesday’s game against the Capitals (7 p.m., Fox Sports Net). Carolina returns to RBC Center on Friday at 7 p.m. to face Florida in the first game of a back-to-back, home-and-home set. Tickets for Friday’s game and all Hurricanes games are available via the team’s official website, CarolinaHurricanes.com, the Dodge Box Office at RBC Center or by calling 919-834-4000.